"What Do You Do When You Are Not Responding To Oil Spills?"

This is a question that we often get asked. Probably the second most asked question after, "Do you really use Dawn for washing oil off animals?" I get it: it is unusual to meet people that have a job with the sole purpose of caring for wildlife when they get oiled! I count myself as incredibly lucky to have such a job. Fortunately, though, oil spills that affect wildlife in our area do not happen every day, so it is logical that people question what we do the rest of the time. And if I am being honest, I would be happy to be out of a job if we ever get our act together and completely eliminate our dependance on fossil fuels (pretty sure this won't happen in my lifetime), but that's another blog...

So, the answer to the question of what we do when we are not responding to oil spills is PLENTY! So much in fact that even though I have worked for OWCN for almost 14 years, not a day goes by where I don't feel I am behind on all the tasks on my plate. I know there have been many other blogs that center around the theme of one of our four "Rs", READINESS (the others being Response, Reaching Out, and Research), so I won't spend too much time describing this R in great detail other than to say that it is what we spend most of our time doing. Readiness encompasses things like training (ourselves and others); networking and engagement with the Member Organizations; writing and revising protocols, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), guidelines, manuals, etc.; and inventorying our supplies and making sure our equipment is operational, among many other things.

All this preamble is to introduce one of our current efforts - to engage and re-engage with our Member Organizations. This has been a priority ever since we came out of Covid lockdown and restrictions, and as you can imagine, it takes time and planning around all our other tasks and responsibilities. Recently, though, we were able to do a day visit to one of our Member Organizations, Sonoma Wildlife County Rescue (SCWR). It was a rainy day in early February that several of us drove to their facility, which sits among beautiful green hills just north of Petaluma. Doris Duncan (Executive Director) and her staff received us with open arms when we arrived, and that was the start of a very enjoyable and fruitful day of meet-and-greet and sharing of information both ways (Frankie gave an intro talk about OWCN and SWCR gave us a tour of their enclosures). I had visited this facility before, but several of our Management Team hadn't been there, so it was great to see their impressive grounds, which includes enclosures for raptors, beavers, mountain lions, and bears. In fact, SCWR was instrumental in caring for the beavers that were affected during the Tanzanite Spill in 2022.

So yes, we have plenty to do when not responding to oil spills, and it is always so gratifying to meet and reconnect with staff and volunteers that are part of our Network. These visits help our readiness in many ways, including sharing of information, answering questions, and getting better ideas of existing capabilities of our Member Organizations, especially as they add or change staff/volunteers and new enclosures/facilities. We are currently planning visits to other Member Organizations throughout the state.

Thank you, Sonoma Wildlife County Rescue, for hosting us and sharing your day with us! We truly loved and appreciated it!

Kyra.